Fathy recognized that architecture is for human beings. He believed that architecture must be shaped by factors like the wind, sun, nature and the individuality and culture of the people involved.

He rejected architecture that was not indigenous rooted in the location and the culture of the area, which in his mind found its truest expression in the vernacular architecture of a society.

His rejection was of internationalism itself as a homogenizing concept that stripped human beings of their individuality

“You must start right from the beginning, letting your buildings grow from the daily lives of the people who live in them, shaping the houses to the measure of the peoples songs, weaving the patterns of a village as if on the village looms, mindful of the trees and the crops that will grow there, respectful to the skyline and humble before the seasons.

There must be neither faked tradition nor faked modernity, but an architecture that will be the visible and permanent expression of the character of the community.

But this would mean nothing less than a whole new architecture.”

Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt:

The house is on an oddly shaped, triangular piece of land with utilitarian functions at a right angle to the main body of the house, along the base of the triangle.

The house gradually expands towards a large sitting room that is cantilevered out over the river.

The entry sequence into the house, for guests, is carefully controlled.

The spaces related to guests are equally graced with views of the river.

Such personal touches continue, culminating in an upper internal court that uses the apex of the plaster dome directly below as a fountainhead, and mirrors it in an open lattice pergola of extraordinary delicacy above.

Fathy recognized that architecture is for human beings. He believed that architecture must be shaped by factors like the wind, sun, nature and the individuality and culture of the people involved.

He rejected architecture that was not indigenous rooted in the location and the culture of the area, which in his mind found its truest expression in the vernacular architecture of a society.

His rejection was of internationalism itself as a homogenizing concept that stripped human beings of their individuality

“You must start right from the beginning, letting your buildings grow from the daily lives of the people who live in them, shaping the houses to the measure of the peoples songs, weaving the patterns of a village as if on the village looms, mindful of the trees and the crops that will grow there, respectful to the skyline and humble before the seasons.

There must be neither faked tradition nor faked modernity, but an architecture that will be the visible and permanent expression of the character of the community.

But this would mean nothing less than a whole new architecture.”

New Gourna Village, Egypt:

The village of New Gourna, which was partially built between 1945 and 1948, is possibly the most well known of all of Fathy’s projects because of the international popularity of his book, “Architecture for the Poor”, published nearly twenty years after the experience and concentrating primarily on the ultimately tragic history of this single village.

Salient Features:

Old Gourna was a thriving community of 500 hamlets built along the hills in West Luxor.

In its design there is an hierarchy to the village which is easiest read by the system of open spaces.

Main route to the village interior widens to create a kind of public square around which many community functions could take place.

Houses were planned in irregular allotments.

Smallest unit in the hierarchy of open space is the multipurpose courtyard.

Starting with this private space of courtyard he finally reached the open fields of the Nile Valley.

Fathy recognized that architecture is for human beings. He believed that architecture must be shaped by factors like the wind, sun, nature and the individuality and culture of the people involved.

He rejected architecture that was not indigenous rooted in the location and the culture of the area, which in his mind found its truest expression in the vernacular architecture of a society.

His rejection was of internationalism itself as a homogenizing concept that stripped human beings of their individuality

“You must start right from the beginning, letting your buildings grow from the daily lives of the people who live in them, shaping the houses to the measure of the peoples songs, weaving the patterns of a village as if on the village looms, mindful of the trees and the crops that will grow there, respectful to the skyline and humble before the seasons.

There must be neither faked tradition nor faked modernity, but an architecture that will be the visible and permanent expression of the character of the community.

But this would mean nothing less than a whole new architecture.”

Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt:

Intended as a resthouse to be used on official trips to the isolated area around Lake Nasser in Nubia, the residence is actually made up of three separate buildings sequentially organized according to the status of each.